Stronger Than AU
by Check it bonsly
Summary: A collection of one-shots exploring ways Garnet being revealed as a fusion could've gone. (Disregards Jailbreak, but should follow all other canon.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: The summary says it all, really. The hiatus has driven me to writing these. (I sincerely apologise for the trash you are about to witness.)**

* * *

Steven grinned as he woke up. He could hear the gems by his bed - Pearl shushing Amethyst, who was giggling. He played innocent, and shifted a little in his bed.

"He's waking up!" Steven's brow furrowed at the words. The voice didn't come from any gem he knew... He opened his eyes to get a look at the mysterious new gem, only to find his vision full of purple.

"Happy birthday Ste-man!" Amethyst laughed as Steven blinked up at her.

"Hey, Amethyst." Steven propped himself up to get a proper view of the upper level of his room. He could see Pearl, holding a neatly wrapped gift, but not the source of the voice. "Who was talking before?"

"Me!" Steven's vision was invaded by red. A few blinks allowed a red gem to come into focus, wearing a headband and grinning at him. Her hair almost reminded him of Garnet...

"Hi," Steven greeted. "Where's Garnet?"

For some reason, this made the new gem laugh. Steven pouted, not getting the joke - and Pearl was laughing too, how odd - and crossed his arms. "Where's Garnet?" he repeated.

Instead of getting Garnet, he found another new gem. This one was blue, with her hair completely covering her eyes. "Garnet isn't here at the moment," she explained.

With, if anything, _more_ questions now, Steven climbed out of his bed. "Is she in her room?" he asked, moving towards the stairs. It was odd for the visor wearing gem not to be present, especially on his birthday of all days.

"Well, she _is_ here," Amethyst backtracked cryptically, "just not... as Garnet."

"What is she then?" Steven was on ground level now, looking for something out of place. Everything was as it had been yesterday, save for the presents collected on the table. "Is she hiding in a present box?"

Amethyst guffawed. Steven huffed, and flopped against the couch dramatically. "Stop laughing!" he protested, sinking into the sofa.

"Sorry Steven," Amethyst said, quite insincerely, "but it'll be funny to you too once you get it."

"Get what?" Steven eyed the presents suspiciously - maybe Garnet was laughing to put him off from the truth. "Where Garnet's gone? It can't be that funny."

The red gem grinned. "She hasn't _gone_ anywhere. She just doesn't exist right now."

"Doesn't _exist?"_ Steven gaped at the red gem, eyes glistening, "Is she -" he shook his head. What was everyone laughing about, if Garnet didn't exist anymore?

"Ruby," the blue gem chided gently. She took a seat next to Steven, and put an rm around him. "Garnet isn't dead, Steven."

"Then where _is_ she?" Steven sniffed.

Ruby frowned - this wasn't how she'd imagined the revelation going. "Come on Sapphire," she held her arms out.

Steven looked up, blinking away tears, as the blue gem ran into Ruby's arms. Ruby picked up Sapphire and swung her around. They almost looked like they were... dancing - Steven gasped, realising what was happening just before the white light of fusion filled the room.

"That's so cool!" he shouted, jumping up to hug the refused Garnet. "I can't believe you're a fusion!"

Garnet smiled down at Steven and pulled him into a hug.

"See," Pearl gestured to Garnet, "Garnet's just fine."

Steven nodded, but remained in Garnet's arms. Suddenly, he pulled his head away. "That was the worst introduction _ever!_ We have to do it again - quick, unfuse!"

Amethyst laughed from her place on the couch, and was shushed by Pearl.

"We already love you," Garnet told Steven. "But..." she stood up and glowed white, splitting up into the two smaller gems again.

"I'm Ruby, and this is Sapphire!" Ruby jabbed a thumb at herself, then her partner. "Nice to meet you!"

* * *

 **I have a few ideas for these. I don't think there'll be any more than 10, though. (The general idea is that, although they're trash, at least _someone_ should enjoy these, so I'm subjecting the general populace to them anyway ;) )**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Thanks for the (unexpectedly) large response!**

* * *

Pearl grabbed Steven and ran. There was no time to check whether Amethyst was following - they needed to get out. If _Garnet_ couldn't dodge the corrupted gem's attacks, Pearl didn't have any hope, let alone _Steven._

Speaking of the half-gem currently held awkwardly under her arm... Pearl set him down on the warp pad (thank goodness they hadn't been too far away) and checked for her fellow crystal gem.

Amethyst leapt the final few feet to the pad, landing on it and activating it in the same moment. As the light surrounded them, Pearl allowed herself to relax slightly.

A sniffing sound beside her reminded her, yet again, that Steven was with them.

"Is Garnet..." the child was crying, squinting through blurry eyes at Amethyst's hands. The purple gem held up the two gems that made up their leader, and nodded.

"She'll be fine," Amethyst said. Steven tried to smile, but his tears betrayed his emotions.

"She shouldn't take that long to reform," Pearl told the boy (why couldn't it have been her, or Amethyst - Garnet was the best when dealing with Steven's emotions), "You can keep watch until then."

Steven nodded, a determined glint entering his watery eyes, and took the two gems from Amethyst's open palms.

* * *

"Hey, Amethyst?"

The purple gem looked up at Steven, who was still watching the gems on his cushion. "Yeah?"

"Why does Garnet have two gems?"

Amethyst froze in sudden realisation. "Uh," she hedged, "She..." Where was Pearl in situations like this? "Why don't you ask her when she comes back?"

Thankfully, Steven accepted this, and turned his attention to the two gems in front of him. "I wish she'd come back sooner..." he whispered.

* * *

A bright light interrupted Steven's sleep. "Wha..." he murmured, sitting up and blinking. "Garnet?" he realised, perking up. "Guys!" he shouted in the direction of the temple door, "Garnet's back!"

Steven grinned as the light faded - what was Garnet's new form going to be? It looked smaller than usual; she must've changed more than Pearl did. It was dim enough to see the reformed gem now, and Steven was confused by what he saw.

"Garnet?"

The gem was too small, and too different, from the Garnet he knew. The hair was similar, but that was about it. "Why did you change so much?"

Garnet startled at Steven's voice. She stared at him for a moment, then suddenly cried out: "Don't look at me!" Steven watched as the small gem ran off, hiding her face.

"Garnet, wait!" This hadn't happened when _Pearl_ reformed... "Garnet?" Steven stared at the temple door, the image marred by the tears in his eyes, and the light coming from next to him.

"Light?" Steven turned back to the cushion. There was Garnet's other gem, reforming. Another small gem was created, but this time she moved straight to give Steven a hug.

"I didn't want you to find out like this," the blue gem apologised, wiping the tears from Steven's face.

"Garnet?"

The blue gem shook her head. "Sapphire," she corrected. "Me and Ruby... we fuse to make Garnet."

Steven's jaw dropped. "Garnet's a _fusion?"_

Sapphire nodded. She climbed off Steven's bed, and made her way over to the temple doors. "Come on, let's find Ruby."

* * *

It didn't take long to find Garnet's other half. The red gem was seeking them out too, eventually realising that she'd left Sapphire behind in her rush to get away.

"Sorry, Steven," she apologised. "I didn't want you to find out like this..."

"That's okay!" Steven grinned. "You being a fusion is _so_ cool!"

Ruby nodded, then turned to Sapphire. The two span in a circle together, grinning at each other, and merged into one. Garnet appeared as the light of fusion faded. The first thing she did was give Steven a hug.

"Garnet's back," Steven smiled from within the embrace.

* * *

 **Idk, I thought this was okay.**


End file.
